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8797999's review against another edition
5.0
It took me a little while to warm to this but what a superb read. Once I got into it I couldn't put it down especially when I got half way through, I have just finished reading it at gone 2am.
My first time reading Hideo Yakayama and I thoroughly enjoyed it, he seems to be more of a crime writer and I have his book Six-Four ready to read.
A very evocative and eye opening read, the ending was very nice and I would certainly read this again and recommend it to others.
My first time reading Hideo Yakayama and I thoroughly enjoyed it, he seems to be more of a crime writer and I have his book Six-Four ready to read.
A very evocative and eye opening read, the ending was very nice and I would certainly read this again and recommend it to others.
bosstweed's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
While the story is intriguing, and the prose is great, the lack of any consequential and meaningful female characters is a glaring omission, which is unfortunately not uncommon. While the enjoyed the actual substance of the story, and most of its execution, the ending felt rushed and fairly unsatisfactory, however the latter may be the point.
ilovenativeplants's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ariannabollens's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
very interesting story, a lot of characters to follow, just barely passes the bechdel test
ambragg3's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Amazing book. As a father myself, it spoke to me how important it is to.learn everyday from mistakes and grow. Very well written.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
4.0
On the day that Yuuki was scheduled to meet his best friend, Anzai, and go on a short climbing holiday, a plane crashes into the mountains, killing over 500 people. As the senior reporter for a local provincial paper, Yuuki stays in the office and is put in charge of the paper's coverage of the crash. Anzai also doesn't make it to the meeting point. He collapses on a city street and is taken to the hospital where he lays in a coma.
What follows is an intense procedural novel about how the news coverage is put together. Yuuki assigns reporters to specific stories, determines which stories go where, navigates the difficult office politics of a paper where the managing director is battling for dominance with the chairman, and anxiously waits for the stories to make it in to the paper before the presses have to roll. And he tries to sneak out of the office now and again to visit his friend's bedside, where he takes Anzai's son under his wing.
Framing the airplane crash story is one set seventeen years later, when Yuuki sets out to follow the original climbing plan with Anzai's son. Hideo Yokoyama's story is not a thriller or a crime novel, but an oddly compelling detailed look at how a provincial newspaper covered a major story that happened to occur in their area. Set in 1985, the story is devoid of the modern electronics that makes communication so easy, with reporters running for pay phones to send in updates and newspapers could scoop each other by printing a story in an earlier edition than their competitors.
What follows is an intense procedural novel about how the news coverage is put together. Yuuki assigns reporters to specific stories, determines which stories go where, navigates the difficult office politics of a paper where the managing director is battling for dominance with the chairman, and anxiously waits for the stories to make it in to the paper before the presses have to roll. And he tries to sneak out of the office now and again to visit his friend's bedside, where he takes Anzai's son under his wing.
Framing the airplane crash story is one set seventeen years later, when Yuuki sets out to follow the original climbing plan with Anzai's son. Hideo Yokoyama's story is not a thriller or a crime novel, but an oddly compelling detailed look at how a provincial newspaper covered a major story that happened to occur in their area. Set in 1985, the story is devoid of the modern electronics that makes communication so easy, with reporters running for pay phones to send in updates and newspapers could scoop each other by printing a story in an earlier edition than their competitors.
thegulagula's review against another edition
5.0
A Japan Air Lines jumbo jet crashed in a mountainous area between Gunma and Nagano prefectures on a summer evening. 520 lost lives, 4 survived. A seasoned reporter was tasked to lead the reporting team covering the accident of unprecedented scale.
Seventeen was a fiction written based on a real tragedy. Set in 2 different timelines of 17 years apart - the year when Yuuki was the JAL Crash Desk Chief, and the year when he and an ex-colleague's son attempted to conquer an infamously deathly rock climbing route.
Yokoyama's detail writing based on his experience as a journalist brought me to the North Kanto Times office, where everything seemed tense yet dramatic. From the race against time, office politics and in-fighting, to deciding between journalism ethics and publishing the hottest scoop ahead of the other newspapers.
Despite the protagonist, who may seemed as a failed journalist and father at the beginning, the author successfully touched the human side of Yuuki - he felt so real and human afterall.
'He always escaped this way. Always telling himself he'd do something about it next time. How, next time, he'd try to have a deeper conversation. That they were father and son living under the same roof and there'd be plenty of time.
Yuuki paused at the landing. Was it true? Was there still plenty of time for Jun and him? Life is just a series of moments.'
It is definitely too early to be a fan of Hideo Yokoyama after just one book but I have unexpectedly enjoyed this book so much, I'm going to find more of his writings.
Seventeen was a fiction written based on a real tragedy. Set in 2 different timelines of 17 years apart - the year when Yuuki was the JAL Crash Desk Chief, and the year when he and an ex-colleague's son attempted to conquer an infamously deathly rock climbing route.
Yokoyama's detail writing based on his experience as a journalist brought me to the North Kanto Times office, where everything seemed tense yet dramatic. From the race against time, office politics and in-fighting, to deciding between journalism ethics and publishing the hottest scoop ahead of the other newspapers.
Despite the protagonist, who may seemed as a failed journalist and father at the beginning, the author successfully touched the human side of Yuuki - he felt so real and human afterall.
'He always escaped this way. Always telling himself he'd do something about it next time. How, next time, he'd try to have a deeper conversation. That they were father and son living under the same roof and there'd be plenty of time.
Yuuki paused at the landing. Was it true? Was there still plenty of time for Jun and him? Life is just a series of moments.'
It is definitely too early to be a fan of Hideo Yokoyama after just one book but I have unexpectedly enjoyed this book so much, I'm going to find more of his writings.
kirinmccrory's review against another edition
5.0
"You mustn't chase the stars
You mustn't chase the moon
Chase the beasts, in the forest
It's dark, it's dark, deep in the forest
The stars are asleep, deep in the forest
The moon is asleep, deep in the forest
You are asleep, deep in the forest
You mustn't chase the stars
You mustn't chase the moon."
"There are as many job opportunities as there are stars in the sky, but I only have one family."
You mustn't chase the moon
Chase the beasts, in the forest
It's dark, it's dark, deep in the forest
The stars are asleep, deep in the forest
The moon is asleep, deep in the forest
You are asleep, deep in the forest
You mustn't chase the stars
You mustn't chase the moon."
"There are as many job opportunities as there are stars in the sky, but I only have one family."
coldprintcoffee's review against another edition
4.0
Previously, I've read Six Four and though it was long like others mentioned, I found it to be a fun and winding read. The tone of this novel is completely different and it goes a bit up and down for me, and my feelings change throughout. The incident with the plane crash was exciting, but they dangle the carrot in favor of exploring the dynamics in the news room - nothing wrong with that. It ends up being a more thorough and layered story than originally expected and eventually appreciated the characters more by the end. The fickle, cultural things are a little weird and difficult to chew on, but, having read and learned about them before, it's not something I need to spit out nor does it make it a totally distasteful read. I like the short chapters that explore feelings with little fat. The protagonist is frustrating in his waffling, but, it's not an easy situation to be handling; the job of manning the crash desk isn't an easy one.
The stress of the job rubs off on his family, and so much of the book was highlighting difficult relationships and how they're handled the different cultural spheres - Japanese work culture, journalism culture, the business side of journalism, and personal issues with the characters. It's interesting to see people with hard childhoods and it describes what it does to the people in their circles. A great character study, in the end.
The stress of the job rubs off on his family, and so much of the book was highlighting difficult relationships and how they're handled the different cultural spheres - Japanese work culture, journalism culture, the business side of journalism, and personal issues with the characters. It's interesting to see people with hard childhoods and it describes what it does to the people in their circles. A great character study, in the end.
kiri_johnston's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5